The subject matter of the present invention relates to a vehicle and/or system of the type disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,903,810; 3,118,393 and 3,356,040.
The present invention is an improvement on the type of vehicle and the type of unloading device for unloading articles from the vehicle.
This invention is directed to an article delivery and unloading device and more particularly to a system which conveys and automatically unloads articles. The system may employ a plurality of vehicles which convey articles and selectively deliver them to different unloading chutes which may be located on either side of the vehicle.
Each vehicle is adapted to support and deliver an article and is mounted for movement along a conveyor line. The vehicle has a wheel for rolling contact with a stationary track and a drive wheel for frictional contact with a rotating shaft. A means is provided to bias the drive wheel so that its axis of rotation is angled with respect to the longitudinal axis of the rotating shaft.
Each vehicle includes a substantially horizontal upper platform which acts as a support for an article being carried thereon. The platform is adapted to be inclined selectively to one side or the other of the vehicle but is maintained in the horizontal position by a locking device. As the vehicle approaches an unloading chute, the locking device is automatically unlocked and the platform is pivoted to one of its two inclined positions so that the article being carried thereon is allowed to slide off of the vehicle into the chute.